Zither
Organology
Board-zithers form the most important category from an occidental point of view because they include our stringed keyboard instruments. The strings are stretched out over a board, which is rectangular or trapezoidal or in some other shape, and which is glued onto a shallow box.
History and development
Although interest in the zither had once more begun to wane by the late 1960s, owing to the two American vogues there are still many used instruments to be found, in various states of disrepair. It has become something of a truism that most zithers seen today are either 60 or 110 years old. Currently (2019) only a few independent luthiers and mid-European makers are producing new instruments.
Concert and Alpine zithers
The Alpine zither has 42 strings, and differs from the concert zither primarily in requiring the addition of an extension to the body of the instrument to support both the longer additional contrabass strings and their tuners.
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